Iranian Support For Terrorism

IRANIAN SUPPORT FOR TERRORISM - FACT SHEET
FACT SHEET
IRANIAN SUPPORT FOR

TERRORISM
Iran Worlds Leading State Sponsor Of Terrorism I Relationship With Al-Qaeda I
Irans Links To 9/11 I The Iranian Regimes Ideology I Pres. Rouhanis Support of
Terrorism I History Of Terrorism I Other Resources
Prepared by Clarion Project National Security Analyst Ryan Mauro
Prepared by: Clarion Project National Security Analyst Ryan Mauro
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IRAN THE WORLDS LEADING STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM

The U.S. government has consistently stated that Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism,
providing a wide array of weaponry, funds, intelligence, safe harbor and logistical support to
Shiite and Sunni terrorists. In some cases, Irans elite Revolutionary Guards Force directly
perpetrates acts of terrorism. 1
Congress has considered legislation requiring the State Department to label the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. 2 The IRGC is currently
on the Treasury Departments list of Specially Designated Nationals involved in terrorism. It was
added in 2007.3 4
Iran has been on the State
Departments list of State
Sponsors of Terrorism since
1984. Its 2013 Country Reports
on Terrorism states that Iran is
supporting Hezbollah, Hamas,
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the
Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine-General Command,
the Syrian regime (also labeled a
State Sponsor of Terrorism),
Houthi rebels in Yemen, Shiite
militants in Bahrain and Shiite
militias in Iraq.5
A poster of (R-L) Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,

Hezbollah Sec-Gen Hassan Nasrallah, former Hezbollah Sec-Gen
Sayyed Abbas al-Musawi and Lebanese cleric Sheikh Ragheb Harb
The State Department confirmed that Iran continues to work with Al-Qaeda elements, despite
their expressed hostility towards one another. It stated: Iran remained unwilling to bring to
justice senior Al-Qaeda (AQ) members it continued to detain, and refused to publicly identify
those senior members in its custody.
Iran allowed AQ facilitators Muhsin al-Fadhli and Adel Radi Saq al-Wahabi al-Harbi to operate a
core facilitation pipeline through Iran, enabling AQ to move funds and fighters to South Asia and
also to Syria.
1http://www.voanews.com/content/iran_is_leading_state_sponsor_of_terrorism_again/1452064.htm
l
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/house-bill-would-designate-iran-s-revolutionary-guardterrorist-group
3 http://www.treasury.gov/ofac/downloads/ctrylst.txt
4 http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/08/15/us-to-label-iran-revolutionary-guardlsquoterroristsrsquo/
5 http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2013/224826.htm
2
Al-Fadhli is a veteran
AQ operative who has
been active for years.
Al-Fadhli began
working with the Iranbased AQ facilitation
network in 2009 and
was later arrested by
Iranian authorities. He
was released in 2011
and assumed leadership
of the Iran-based AQ
facilitation network.
Iran operates a global network, including in the U.S. and South America. In May 2013, a 500 page
report by an Argentine state prosecutor said Iran has an intelligence and terrorist network in
Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Trinidad, Tobago and Suriname
and elsewhere.6
The State Department also said Iran increased its presence in Africa. Iran is also known to work
closely with North Korea on weapons of mass destruction programs. The IRGC is believed to have
a presence in Sudan (another State Sponsor of Terrorism), where it oversees a supply route to
Hamas.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/29/us-argentina-iran-idUSBRE94S1F420130529
IRANS RELATIONSHIP WITH AL-QAEDA

The Clinton, Bush and Obama Administrations all agreed that Iran supports Al-Qaeda terrorists,
despite their ideological differences.
In February 2014, the Treasury Department sanctioned three IRGC officers and one IRGC
associate for supporting the Taliban and involvement in attacks in Afghanistan. 7 The U.S.
government also blacklisted an operative of the Olimzhon Adkhamovich Sadikov, also known as
Jafar al-Uzbeki, for assisting Al-Qaeda from Iranian territory.
Sadikov is a member of an Al-Qaeda affiliate named the Islamic Jihad Union and is based in
Mashhad, Iran. He assists Al-Qaeda members and other extremists with travel documents to and
from Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also collects money for the greater Al-Qaeda network in Iran,
where it is distributed to other affiliates such as Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria.
In October 2012, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned two Al-Qaeda leaders in Iran that
manage its critically important Iran-based funding and facilitation network. 8 The two terrorists
were:
Muhsin al-Fadhil, the leader of the Al-Qaeda pipeline in Iran. He arrived in Iran in 2009
and was detained. After he was released in 2011, he replaced Yasin al-Suri as the
pipelines manager.
Abdel Radi Saqr al-Wahabi al-Harbi joined the Iran-based network in early 2011 and acts
as al-Fadhils deputy. He oversees the movement of Al-Qaeda members to Iraq and
Afghanistan via Iran.
In July 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned six Al-Qaeda operatives connected to an
Iran-based core pipeline for Al-Qaedas operations which enables it to move personnel and
resources back and forth from the Middle East to South Asia.9
The operatives were:
Yasin al-Suri, who has served as Al-Qaedas representative in Iran since 2005. He
oversees the transfer of money and recruits through Iran and negotiates the release of AlQaeda detainees held in Iran.
Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, Al-Qaedas overall commander in the Pakistani tribal areas and
previous Al-Qaeda ambassador to Iran.
Umid Muhammadi, an Al-Qaeda facilitator and trainer involved with Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
He has used his contact with the Iranian regime to request the release of detained AlQaeda members.
http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl2287.aspx
http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1741.aspx
9 http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1261.aspx
7
8
Salim Hasan Khalifa Rashid al-Kuwari, who is based in Qatar and works with the Iranbased Al-Qaeda operatives in arranging travel and money transfers.
Abdallah Ghanim Mafuz Muslim al-Khawar, who is based in Qatar and delivers money,
material and other items to Al-Qaedas leaders in Iran. He also makes travel
arrangements for terrorists.
Ali Hasan Ali al-Ajmi is based in Kuwait and works with Yasin al-Suri. He provides
travel and financial assistance to Al-Qaeda in general, Al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Taliban.
By exposing Irans secret deal with al-Qaeda, allowing it to funnel funds and operatives through
its territory, we are illuminating yet another aspect of Irans unmatched support for terrorism,
the U.S. Treasury press release stated.
In January 2009, the Treasury Department sanctioned four Al-Qaeda operatives linked to Iran.10
They were:
Mustafa Hamid, who
negotiated a secret
relationship between
Usama Bin Laden and
Iran in the mid-1990s
so Al-Qaeda members
could transit the
country. He acted as a
liaison between the
Iranian regime and AlQaeda and the Taliban.
He was detained in
Iran in 2003.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, current leader of Al-Qaeda
Muhammad Raba alSayid al-Bahtiyti is a
trusted aide to current Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri. After the 9/11 attacks, he
arranged for Zawahiris daughters to travel to Iran. He was detained in Iran in 2003.
Ali Saleh Husein, who oversaw the movement of Al-Qaeda members to Iran after the 9/11
attacks. He was also detained in 2003.
Saad Bin Laden, a son of Osama Bin Laden who oversaw the movement of Bin Ladens
family members to Iran after the 9/11 attacks. He also helped manage Al-Qaeda from
Iran and was detained in 2003. He was reportedly allowed to leave Iran in September
2008. He was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2009 in Pakistan.
The Al-Qaeda network in Iran has been tied to plots against the United States. In April 2013, two
individuals linked to the network were arrested in Canada as they planned to derail a train going
10
http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/hp1360.aspx
from New York to Toronto. Royal Canadian Mounted Police official James Malizia said, The
individuals were receiving support from Al Qaeda elements located in Iran. There is no
information to indicate that these attacks were state-sponsored. 11
The relationship between Iran and Al-Qaeda goes back to the early 1990s. According to the 9/11
Commission report, Iran agreed to assist Al-Qaeda in late 1991-1992 in carrying out operations
against common enemies, chiefly the U.S. and Israel. Senior members of the group received
explosives training inside Iran. Another group of Al-Qaeda members were trained in Lebanon by
Iranian operatives in 1993.12
The relationship between al-Qaeda and Iran demonstrated that Sunni-Shia divisions did not
necessarily pose an insurmountable barrier to cooperation in terrorist operations, the 9/11
Commission concluded.
Contact between the two sides continued throughout the 1990s. After Al-Qaedas attack on the
USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, Iran wanted to further develop the relationship. The 9/11
Commission says Bin Laden did not pursue the opportunity because he worried it would strain his
Saudi ties.
http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/21836/20130423/canada-disrupts-alqaeda-supported-major-terror-plot
12 http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf
11
IRANS LINKS TO 9/11

The 9/11 Commission said it found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning
for what later became the 9/11 attack but that further investigation was needed into the issue. In
December 2011, U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels ruled that Iran and Hezbollah materially
and directly supported al Qaeda in the September 11, 2001 attacks. 13
The 9/11 Commission reported that 8 to 10
of the 9/11 hijackers traveled through Iran
between October 2000 and February 200l.
They took advantage of an Iranian
agreement to not stamp the passports of
Al-Qaeda members going through the
country. The travel of the hijackers
appears to have been coordinated with
Hezbollah, with one even boarding the
same flight to Beirut as Hezbollahs
operations chief, Imad Mughniyah.
The judge was also persuaded by
testimony from three Iranian defectors,
including a former intelligence officer
named Hamid Reza Zakeri that defected in
2001 and claimed to have foreknowledge
of the 9/11 attacks. Zakeri provided alleged
top-secret intelligence documents proving
that Iran and Hezbollah helped
orchestrate the attacks.
THE IRANIAN REGIMES IDEOLOGY

The Iranian regime consists of Shiite Islamists who interpret their faith as a code of governance.
This ideology holds that Muslims are required by Allah to wage global jihad until a messianic
figure called the Mahdi appears to bring about final victory over Islams non-Muslim enemies.
13
http://iran911case.com/
In June 2014, for example, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the coming of Imam
Zaman [Mahdi] is the definite promise by Allah. Khameneis representative in the IRGC likewise
said that Iran must pursue regional preparedness so that the Mahdi can appear. 14
This unshakeable commitment to jihad is stated in the preamble of Irans constitution. It states
that the government is committed to the establishment of a universal holy government and the
downfall of all others.15
PRES. ROUHANIS SUPPORT OF TERRORISM

In contrast to his public image of being a moderate, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
continues to support terrorism and has not given any indication that the regime will reconsider it.
In fact, Hamas announced its ties to Iran would resume immediately following his election. 16
Financial assistance to Hamas was revived by
March 2014.17 Rouhani also publicly pledged
continued support for the Syrian regime and
Hezbollah.18 19
Rouhani has also appointed numerous
ministers with histories of supporting
terrorism, extremism and gross human rights
violations. His Defense Minister was an
orchestrator of the bombing of the U.S. Marine
barracks in Lebanon in 1983 that killed 241
American troops.20
http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/15/iran-supreme-leader-the-shiite-islamic-messiah-is-comingto-free-the-world/
15 https://faculty.unlv.edu/pwerth/Const-Iran(abridge).pdf
16 http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Zahar-Hamas-renewed-ties-with-Iran-following-Rouhanielection-334478
17 http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/03/iran-hamas-finance-economy-resistanceaxis-gaza.html
18 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/irans-new-president-hassan-rouhanivows-to-support-syrian-regime-as-president-assad-vows-to-crush-rebels-with-iron-fist8745857.html
19 http://www.timesofisrael.com/irans-rouhani-affirms-support-for-syria-hezbollah/
20 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/13/irans-new-defense-minister-hezbollahchief-who-pla/
14
THE REGIMES HISTORY OF TERRORISM

Since 1979, Iran has been responsible for countless terrorist plots, directly through regime agents
or indirectly through proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah.
The IRGC is believed to have had a direct role in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks
and French military barracks in Beirut, Lebanon which killed 299 American and French
soldiers.21 22 It was the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history before the 9/11 attacks. The
Iranian regime carried out various other operations in Lebanon in the 1980s, including
Hezbollahs kidnapping and torture of CIA station chief William Francis Buckley. 23 He never
escaped and died in the custody of terrorists.
Iran is also believed to be responsible for the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Argentina
that killed 29 people and the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires that killed
85 people. Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to Supreme Leader Khamenei, is accused of
orchestrating the 1994 attack.24
On June 16, 1996, the Khobar Towers bombing took place in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S.
soldiers. It is widely thought that Iran orchestrated it. The 9/11 Commission concluded that
Hezbollah, likely with the support of the
Iranian regime, was the perpetrator. It said
there are signs that Al-Qaeda also played
a role.25
After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the
Iranian regime assisted the Taliban, AlQaeda and radical Shiite militias battling
U.S. and allied soldiers in Afghanistan and
Iraq.26 This support included safe harbors,
training and the provision of advanced
weapons including sophisticated
Khobar Towers, Saudi Arabia
improvised explosive devices. The Iranian
support was also used to target the Iraqi and Afghan security forces.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCOURTS-dcd-1_01-cv-01924/pdf/USCOURTS-dcd-1_01-cv01924-0.pdf, http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/secret-history-hezbollah_767144.html#
22 https://history.state.gov/milestones/1981-1988/lebanon
23 Joseph Trento, Prelude to Terror (2005)
24 http://freebeacon.com/national-security/new-iranian-foreign-policy-head-approved-1994-terrorbombing/
25 http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf
26 http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/iran-murdering-us-soldiers-afghanistran
21
In 2006, the government of Azerbaijan arrested 15 citizens for involvement in an Iranian terror
campaign to target Israeli and Western visitors. 27
There are strong indications of Iranian involvement in a 2007 terrorist plot against New Yorks
JFK International Airport.28 The plan was to blow up fuel tanks and pipelines leading to the site.
Among those convicted was a radical Shiite imam. The FBI confirms that one of the individuals
involved has links to militant groups in Iran and Venezuela and had regularly contact with
Iranian authorities.29
In 2008, authorities in Azerbaijan foiled an Iranian-Hezbollah plot to bomb the Israeli embassy
in Baku. 30
In 2011, the U.S. government announced it foiled an Iranian terrorist plot to work with Mexican
drug cartel members to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. by bombing a Washington
D.C. restaurant he frequented. The two-man cell also aspired to bomb the Saudi and Israeli
embassies in the capital and in Argentina.31
In 2012, the U.S. State Department reported a clear resurgence in Iranian terrorist activity and
that Hezbollahs terrorist activity has reached a tempo unseen since the 1990s. The IRGC
and/or Hezbollah were linked to terrorist plots in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and
the Far East.32
The State Departments 2012 report says Iran was behind the attempted assassinations of Israeli
diplomats in India and Georgia and bomb plots in Thailand and Nigeria. 33
Iran and Hezbollah are strongly suspected of involvement in the July 2012 bombing of a bus in
Bulgaria with Israeli tourists that killed six people. In February 2012, terrorists planning a
bombing campaign in Azerbaijan were arrested and linked to Iran and Hezbollah. 34 An Iranlinked series of attacks in Bahrain was also stopped.35
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/30/world/fg-shadow30
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/2217/iranian-terror-plot-jfk-airport
29 http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2011/russell-defreitas-sentenced-to-life-in-prisonfor-conspiring-to-commit-terrorist-attack-at-jfk-airport
30 http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/30/world/fg-shadow30
31 http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-iran-tied-terror-plot-washington-dcdisrupted/story?id=14711933
34 http://www.jta.org/2012/02/22/news-opinion/world/azerbaijan-arrests-terror-suspects-linkedto-hezbollah-iran
35 http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/prosecutors-iran-syria-aided-bomb-assassination-plotbahrain/story?id=15472224
27
28
It also confirmed that Iran continued to train Taliban elements and provide them with weapons
including rocket-propelled grenades, rockets, mortars and explosives. The allegation of Iranian
support for the Taliban does not appear in the State Departments 2013 report.
OTHER RESOURCES
State Sponsors: Iran (Council on Foreign Relations)
http://www.cfr.org/iran/state-sponsors-iran/p9362
Country Reports on Terrorism 2013 (U.S. State Department)
http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2013/index.htm
Irans Terrorism Problem (Brookings Institute)
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/iran-at-saban/posts/2013/11/21-iran-terrorism-problembeirut-bombing-byman
Iran's Support For Terrorism Worldwide (The Washington Institute)
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/testimony/LevittTestimony20140
304.pdf
Iranian Terrorist Policy and "Export of Revolution" (IDC Herziliya)
http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_uploads/2903iranian.pdf

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IRANIAN SUPPORT FOR TERRORISM - FACT SHEET